Photomontage

Apologies for the format of this entry, but I’ve had absolutely no time to keep a journal for this assignment. I initially underestimated the work involved in creating a photomontage piece – I imagined a few rough-cut scraps of photos placed together on some grander background would do the trick. Obviously, this has not been the case.

There was slow progress in developing the social issue to explore in my piece. The following is a step-by-step progression of my idea:

• Society’s acceptance of violence as entertainment
• Media violence in relation to children
• Child soldiers (in third world countries?)
• Teen violence
• Kids and guns
• Gun control

And then I decided to stop being an idiot and just run with an idea, so gun control is where I drew the line.

The first iteration of my piece was crowded and messy, but it served its purpose as an initial prototype. I sourced my school children cut-outs from a movie called ‘Battle Royale’, and the other images from various places on the internet. The first iteration focused a lot more on the school aspect, whereas my latter renditions switched the focus to the guns.

To counteract the cluttered look, I really stepped back from the piece and removed all the elements. I was careful to leave copious amounts of white-space this time, allowing the viewer to examine the piece without the visual assault. I then started work designing the reverse side of my postcard. Opting to repeat an element from the front of the postcard, I copied the gun (removing all filers and enhancements) and scoured the internet for gun related statistics. The text I decided to go with was “1 child every 3 hours… 8 children every day… 50 children every week… 3,000 children every year… …are killed by gunfire in the United States alone”.

I thought that my specific social message was not being communicated clearly enough with the current iteration of my photomontage piece, so I set to work making the message clearer. I blended several of the gun toting schoolgirl cut-outs into the image by shading them into the handle of the gun – so they were all aiming at the one schoolboy in the foreground (who has the massive gun aimed at his back). I went on to lay a blood splatter behind everything which contrasted well with the white-space.

Seeking to add the final touches to my piece, I added a pair of bullets and a thin black border along the top and bottom of the quote on the back of the postcard. On the front I placed the words “GUN CONTROL” along the barrel of the gun – which was just enough to really spell out the issue being explored (one can’t make any assumption about the viewer’s deductive skills).

Rayogram 4

Today I’ve played around with inversion and solarisation primarily, also trying to achieve the effect where there’s a thin black line around the object (which I failed at because the tutorial is virtually useless). I’ve got the image looking sufficiently alien, somewhat ethereal, and even slightly electric. Hell, I’d even say it’s about ready for submission. I’ll probably work on it a little more tomorrow and submit it the next morning (Tuesday).

Rayogram 3

Scanner problems? SOLVED!
Items scanned? HELL YES!
Image compiled? Uh… PRETTY MUCH!

Today has been productive. In addition to the technological parts, I scanned a crumpled up piece sheet of lined paper which I’ve used as by background - it adds some texture. Determining which items to use as which body parts was easy once I’d examined each scan and rotated them around a bit. What has proven difficult is apply ANY of the techniques well. The provided tutorials are horrendous; often they give little or no mention of the filters applied, the menus navigated, etc. let alone actually helpful step-by-step information.

Rayogram 2

Fast forward a few days since my last entry to now. After constant (almost daily) communication with Lydia we’ve arranged to meet early tomorrow before class so that she can show me step-by-step what I should be doing to scan. Oh, and the extension she allowed me had saved my life.

I’ve done a lot of thinking and planning (I’ve sure had time to) and my piece will be technology inspired. By scanning a lot of electronic parts, accessories, and cables I will build the components to create a piece which will have the viewer see technology in a new light. Using the electric-inversion effect granted by a rayogram, I will create an alien creature of misshapen ‘robotic’ parts using scans of human technology. Overdone, I know, but I don’t care.

Rayogram 1

Finally, I’ve got time to really sit down and plough through a large portion of this Rayogram assignment. I’ve consulted friends, discussing items that would be interesting to scam for possible compositions. I’ve created a list. I’ve raided my home to horde these items only to realise that this assignment is going to be a lot more trouble than I’d expected. I can’t scan my items! I’ve tried several times and the result is always an image far too blurry to use. I’ll contact Lydia and see what’s what.

Cubism 7

I’m in class right now, rushing to get the finishing touches on my artwork. All I need to do is sort out a paint splatter filter and it’s ready for submission. I fear that it won’t receive a very good mark because it is minimalist and simplified, but hopefully the multimedia poster art style means that it is obviously INTENTIONALLY minimalist and simplified.

Cubism 6

I’ve stripped my piece of all color except red, white, and black. I’ve drastically cut down its dimensions and modelled it more closely on poster art than anything else. The addition of text and reduced dimensions has led me to change the piece’s application from print to electronic media.

Cubism 5

I’ve done some more work on my cubism piece, but all my experimentation only leads to messy, messy failure. The bright eclectic coloring I originally wanted just isn’t my style. Seeking another style to incorporate to solve my color problems, I looked into vorticism again. Unsurprisingly I still dislike vorticism, but it reminded me of the poster-art aspect of this assignment. After some research into poser art and finding some simple inspiration I feel a lot more confident and directed about my coloring. More experimentation!

Cubism 4

I’ve researched futurism and vorticism, and found that neither strikes me as a style that I wish to strongly incorporate into my piece. Futurism is too sleek and the images are too visibly ‘deep’ for what I with to create. Vorticism is even less appealing except the strong isometric lines the style uses.

Cubism 3

This is going to be a rough list of aspects of café culture to possibly be used in my cubism piece:

• Coffee
• Social atmosphere
• Food
• People
• Music
• Utensils
• Menu
• Wine

Cubism 2

I’ve done some research into the styles of cubism. I’m going to avoid the temporal aspect that some styles use because while it does look interesting it also looks messy. I’ve found one artist, Chidi Okoye, whose work is a hybrid of Japanese Okiyo-e style (which I personally enjoy) and the more ‘western’ cubism. Strong, bright colours are used and the paint is physically textured with a ‘splatter’ effect.

I hope to use the above mentioned qualities in my own work.

Cubism 1

To be honest, I forgot about this assignment over the week break. I don’t think it would have made any difference, as we only learned what cubism and futurism were today. Looking at the art of Picasso and others, this task seems daunting. I hope to research another, simpler looking style of cubism. What can I say? I’m a simple kind of guy.

Abstract 8

Every time I try and experiment, making decent changes to my piece, I can’t help but scrap the changes and revert. I like my piece as it is. If I add to it, it either feels too forced and cluttered, or the balance and flow of the piece feels disrupted. I think I won’t be performing many more alterations to it before I deem it truly finished. I was wondering how I’d know to stop playing with it – I guess I’m approaching that point.

Abstract 7

I’m DEFINITELY going to stick with the red and black color scheme. I’ll include a few examples of my experimentation in my sketchpad for later submission. Be warned: they look absolutely abhorrent.

Abstract 6

Hell yeah more techniques. Playing with blush strokes (applying them well and creating my own) has opened a billion new ideas for me. My ‘bucket filled’ shapes now resemble thick strokes of some house-painting brush loaded with far too much paint. I love it! Also, several of my blended lines now resemble the markings one would expect the needles of a polygraph to leave. Juxtaposing the above mentioned textures against the crisp lines and shapes just works so well!

Abstract 5

Should I have one bold, clear piece or have it consist of several isolated groups, each potentially acting as an ‘island’ of abstract noise in the sea of my all-confining background colour? Hmm…

Scrap that. Go for a hybrid! After positive feedback today, having a single piece with elements penetrating the confining background help give the image depth and complexity.

Also, isolated ‘islands’ that breach their containers without any backgrounds! (Thanks Lydia for the idea.)

Abstract 4

I’ve started saving my musings for posterity. If I should wish to use and/or alter any of the elements I’ve already created then it will prove a most useful resource.

I really like the stark contrast that results from using primarily ‘bucket filled’ colour on elements I create. I think I’ll have a static background of black or red on my actual piece.

Abstract 3

Actually learning some techniques to use to create abstract imagery has helped me further define (mentally) the variety of abstract noise I wish to visually sculpt. The ‘blend’ feature will prove invaluable for giving a cross-hatched texture to aspects of any image. Experimenting with its affects on various shapes (especially crazy stuff like blending between a line and a square) has given me a few more ideas. I particularly like the ‘sound wave style’ look

Abstract 2

Ok… ‘Noise’ is the theme… At first I couldn’t stop automatically associating ‘abstract noise’ with ‘visual mess’, but I think my mind is broadening. Where I originally imagines a piece resembling a complex ink blot (some random pen shape with a twirl, pucker, bloat, and other random alterations), I can now envisage a more structured image forming. Nice clean lines – possibly intersecting – with shapes of crisp outline and bold color.

Abstract 1

I've just been assigned my first piece of marked word and it's an abstract piece... WIN!

I'm happy about this piece of work because I know it will be easy. And I know it will be easy because I can actually experiment and enjoy the creative process when the finished product is so open-ended. There’s a lot less pressure to have the ‘best’ piece, because ‘best’ is infinitely subjective with an abstract piece. It’s just going to be a pleasant task to complete.